The Lucky Cat Solla: Chestnut Cask, Beloved Cat, and Mars Whisky’s Pioneering Spirit
Every year, Hombo Shuzo’s Mars Whisky releases a limited edition bottle in their beloved Lucky Cat series. Each release is named after a real cat — a member of the president’s family — and each cat’s personality shapes the choice of cask. The latest is Solla (ソラ), and the cask chosen to match her character is one of the rarest in the whisky world: chestnut wood.
The Cat Behind the Bottle
Solla’s name carries a wish: “may she grow up shining like the sun in a wide-open sky.” That aspiration is reflected in the packaging — a vivid, clear sky blue that stands apart from every previous release in the series. Past Lucky Cats have included May, Luna, Hana, and Choco, each aged in different cask types chosen to reflect their individual natures. Solla continues that tradition, and the box is printed with a series of her expressions — curious, uncertain, demanding — each one capturing a different moment in a young cat’s life.
Why Chestnut Cask?
Standard whisky maturation uses oak — European or American. Chestnut wood is exceptionally rare in whisky production worldwide, and for good reason: it is far more difficult to work with than oak. The staves behave differently, the tannins interact with spirit in unpredictable ways, and the technical challenge is significant. Yet Mars Whisky chose chestnut for Solla, because the goal was not to take the easy path — it was to find the cask that best expressed her personality.
Chestnut brings subtle astringency alongside sweeter, distinctly Japanese wood notes that oak cannot replicate. The result is something genuinely unique: a whisky that could only have been made by a distillery willing to accept the difficulty in pursuit of something new.
Mars Whisky: A History of Not Following the Rules
That willingness has deep roots. Mars Whisky traces its lineage to Kiichiro Iwai, the engineer who designed the distillation equipment used by Masataka Taketsuru — the man widely credited with founding Japanese whisky. Hombo Shuzo has always been willing to relocate production, experiment with environments, and challenge what Japanese whisky is supposed to taste like. The Lucky Cat series, in which a beloved pet becomes the conceptual blueprint for a whisky, is simply the latest expression of that restless creativity.
Mika’s Perspective
The Lucky Cat series has a devoted following at Bar Little Happiness, and I’ve watched guests light up when I explain the story behind each release — that these are real cats, real personalities, and that the cask choice is genuinely guided by the character of the animal. With Solla, the chestnut cask adds a layer of curiosity that suits her well: something a little unexpected, a little surprising, worth paying attention to. We stock the full Mars Whisky range alongside the Lucky Cat series, and I’m always happy to walk through the differences.
Read the original Japanese column: little-happiness.jp/columns/luckycat-solla-chestnut-cask/
Bar Little Happiness | Hiroshima, Japan
Rum & Whisky specialists | 1,000+ bottles | English menu available
Open Mon–Sat 7PM–12:30AM, Sun 7PM–midnight
No cover charge. Walk-ins welcome.
english.little-happiness.jp